We take heart that far-sighted legislators, the real estate industry and Gov. Charlie Baker have found common ground on how the state can decarbonize its economy over the next 30 years while keeping aggressive goals intact.
Baker is, as of this writing, poised to sign a key climate roadmap bill into law that commits the state to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions substantially in the next 10 years, with the remaining reduction to “net zero” to be spaced out over the following 20.
Key to the compromise secured by pressure from NAIOP-Massachusetts and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce was increased flexibility on new building codes aimed at reducing emissions from the building sector. Now, as the state develops these codes – which municipalities will be able to individually adopt in the coming years before they become the statewide standard in 2029 – more options for how a building can reduce its carbon footprint will be available.
With questions lingering about how feasible and affordable new clean energy technology is in new construction, this move prevents the creation of building codes that could let towns effectively block new development in the name of energy efficiency.
At the same time, legislators held firm on important provisions, like committing the state to hit net zero emissions by 2050 and sector-by-sector targets that will be key to guiding policymakers.
With this framework in place, Massachusetts can now move forward with discussions of how to meet these targets aggressively. Central to these discussions should be finding ways to fund tried-and-true, easy-to-deploy tools like frequent, reliable mass transit service in the state’s suburbs, alongside ways to bring costs down for other important tools like electrically powered building heating and cooling systems.
We may be but one state out of 50, with a mere 2.1 percent of the nation’s population, but Massachusetts must move with purpose and speed to reduce its emissions. The solutions we develop will likely be models for the rest of America, so it’s important to get them right.
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